Stories by Tamar Fleishman

Regional food picks and outdoor fun – minus the snow – near the Canadian border.

Vermont’s storied "Northeast Kingdom" was given its name by former Governor and U.S. Senator George D. Aiken in 1949 for its special beauty. While lots of people think of Vermont in terms of a snow-covered ...

Last year, Belgium celebrated the 200th anniversary of the birth of the inventor of the saxophone, Adolphe Sax. His birthplace and important milestones occurred in the Wallonia (French-flavored) part of the country. It’s his inventions ...

For most of its history, Grand Bahama Island only had a few hundred people and no development. In 1955, a Virginian named Wallace Grove, eyeing the tourism of nearby Cuba, created the planned city of ...

What comes around, goes around. Charleston was one of the most renowned, prosperous cities in colonial and antebellum America. Gone with the Wind’s character Rhett Butler was ostensibly from Charleston, to demonstrate how sophisticated, well-born ...

Soak up the city's multicultural history and go beyond Southern cooking.

Savannah was established as Georgia’s first city – a working port – in 1733. It’s been welcoming people and trade for over 280 years, adding a global, cosmopolitan flavor to its Deep South traditions. Really, ...

Until this year, the only part of Arizona I had ever seen was my grandparents’ retirement abode near Camelback Mountain. I remembered that people would emerge in the cool of the night with headlamps to ...

The Caribbean and Atlantic islands weren’t the origin of rum – that was created in New England – but they were part of the trade triangle that included African slaves and island molasses. Any thought ...

In an era where places rarely or barely live up to their reputations, Vermont’s Route 100 looks and really feels like old-fashioned Christmas cards depicting the New England state. I visited in winter, when buildings ...

Cincinnati has roots in so many different worlds: North and South, rust belt and agrarian, skyscrapers and green space, historic and hip. Neighborhoods that were marginalized for decades are now favorites of young professionals. Artistic ...

Though Stockholm has much in common with other Scandinavian cities, it has a look and cultural legacy all of its own. This harbor city gets both American tourists and lots of fresh seafood. Stockholm seems ...

Visiting Manhattan, I had always relegated my trips to uptown, never to the Battery Park area, Wall Street area or... the World Trade Center. Of course, coming into the city from the south, I’d seen ...

Saarbrücken, the capital of the German state of Saarland that’s right on the French border, was part of an independent nation-state created after WWI. It changed political control back and forth: at times it was ...

Most Americans probably don’t know where the Faroe Islands are. They’re a small island chain between Iceland and Scotland, speaking a language derived from Old Norse and Western Norwegian dialects. If anyone's heard of the ...

Wineries, car museums and castles: the refined home of Mercedes and Porsche.

Stuttgart isn’t as frantically busy as many other cities in Europe and even in Germany can be, but it’s lively and thriving. With luxury auto manufacturing, palaces and wine, the city is a place to ...

Leipzig, in what was East Germany, was one of Europe’s most important music centers. I knew Felix Mendelssohn Barthody and Johann Sebastian Bach lived here. As it turns out, Clara and Robert Schumann, Richard Wagner, ...

Visit the hometowns of James Brown, Brer Rabbit, Flannery O'Connor and more.

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, real or fictional, Georgia was the home of some of our most memorable, iconic characters. Seeing their birthplaces is not merely about roaming from town to town. Rather, it’s learning ...

Though the reasons for WWI are murky to most Americans – something about the assassination of an Archduke, as well as the unification of feudal-era principalities into modern nation-states – the war brought our country ...

In the Middle Ages, back when canals were the super-highways of Europe, Bruges experienced a surge of wealth and culture. Before the canals started silting, there was a direct route to the sea from the ...

In Mechelen – pronounced with a guttural "ch" – religion has played a tremendous role for over 800 years. The city's provided shelter, freedom for women, even beer...and it’s also served as a dark double-edged ...

Germany’s most ancient city is Trier, its name derived from the Roman name Augusta Trevororum under Caesar Augustus. It was known as the “Second Rome” before Constantinople. While the Romans had been in neighboring Gaul ...

Prince Edward Island, Canada, is called the birthplace of Canada – it was the site where they became a confederation in 1864. In 2014, they will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Charlottetown Conference leading ...

Lots of tourist amenities have sprung up around Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the most visited national park in the U.S., and it’s no wonder. The stunning scenery and wildlife have attracted people to the ...

Why are people from around the world flocking to Staunton, Virginia, a little railroad town nestled in the Shenandoah Valley? Staunton, pronounced “Stant-on,” isn’t content to merely be a scenic historic stop 10 miles west ...

Chattanooga was one of the main starting points of the Cherokee Trail of Tears. It and the surrounding region of southeastern Tennessee are full of culture, preserving important elements of America’s heritage. And all this ...

Dutchess County, New York, is part of the Hudson Valley. In one single county, you’ll find all types of cultures: historic, scenic outdoors, indie artists, foodie, horsey set and “beautiful people.” This is the land ...

Ikea’s hometown is a favorite of royalty, tennis stars, rock stars and foodies.

The city of Helsingborg, Sweden, is a lot more charming and laid back than you would imagine Sweden’s busiest fruit port, the place where Nicorette was invented and still made, and the headquarters for Ikea. ...

A trip to an Upstate N.Y. foie gras (now illegal in CA) farm sheds light on the process.

Whether you're a foodie, a farmer or an animal rights’ activist, you’ll learn a lot and clear up many misconceptions by visiting Hudson Valley Foie Gras. You may have seen the episode of No Reservations ...

Gothenburg, Sweden, is the country’s second-largest city, and yet it’s not on most Americans' radar. It should be! It’s an important commercial port, Volvo’s headquarters, a college town, a gourmet food destination and a fashion ...

A culinary tour of this culturally rich island off the coast of China.

Recently, I traveled to Taiwan to learn about its food. I sampled a range of delicacies, but was most struck by a culture completely unknown to me: the aborigines of Taiwan. The original settlers of ...

I certainly wasn’t expecting to find European-style castles and other luxurious things in Ohio’s Hocking Hills, nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Yes, they have some of the more expected things, like biker ...

You can immerse yourself in the culture of Central Europe without ever leaving the States by heading to Cleveland. Between the food, music and neighborhoods, there are lots of exotic pockets in the city that ...

I was invited by the Tuscan city of Lucca, Italy, to learn more about its beloved son, Giacomo Puccini. The fifth generation of famous musicians in his family, Puccini lived from 1858–1924 and was the ...

A few years ago, The Economist pointed out that Pittsburgh’s changing demographics would make for a “rosier future.” Sure enough, it’s a hot place for young people to visit. Aging baby boomers in the steel ...

The original French explorers and fur trappers who came upon the treacherous waters separating Washington Island from the mainland of Door County, Wisconsin, called it “Doors of Deaths.” Today, the waters do sometimes delay campers ...

Three hundred seventy-eight years ago, the state of Maryland was founded in St. Mary’s County. Leonard Calvert, representing his brother – the second Lord Baltimore – started a colony that would be hospitable to Catholics ...